Heavy smoke from track fire drifts into West Loop high-rise

May 11, 2012|Staff report

Workers wait outside as firefighters respond to a fire in the area of an office building in the 400 block of West Van Buren in Chicago. Train tracks near the building were on fire -- a common occurrence, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight -- but smoke was drifting into the building's ventilation system. (Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune)

Heavy smoke from a track fire wafted into the ventilation system of a building near Union Station this morning in the West Loopbut there were no reports of injuries.

Emergency crews were called to a high-rise in the 300 block of South Riverside Plaza about 11 a.m., according to the Chicago Fire Department spokesman Will Knight.

Tracks near the building were on fire -- a common occurrence, according to Knight -- but smoke was drifting into the building's ventilation system.

“The train track timbers are causing heavy smoke to go up in to the ventilation system,’’ Knight said.

An EMS Plan I, which sends at least five ambulance to the scene, and a still and box alarm were called as a precaution, though no injuries or evacuations were reported, said Knight.